Gerrish C J, Alberts J R
Psychology Department, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405.
J Comp Psychol. 1995 Mar;109(1):61-7. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.109.1.61.
Weanling Sprague Dawley rat pups (Rattus norvegicus) selected between 2 safe palatable diets in concordance with the preferences of either an adult or a juvenile conspecific model (Experiment 1). Nevertheless, weanlings chose to feed more in the vicinity of an adult than in the vicinity of a juvenile, thus fulfilling the prediction of an adaptive feeding strategy (Experiment 2). The weanlings' bias for feeding in the vicinity of an adult was eliminated by increasing the magnitude of pup stimulus to 3 pups (Experiment 3). Thus, weanlings do not possess a specialization rendering them more sensitive to adults than to pups as models for diet selection. By responding to stimulus magnitude, weanlings are more likely to feed with adult conspecifics, choose foods used by them, and derive the benefits correlated with the adults' successful feeding habits.
根据成年或幼年同种模型的偏好，在两种安全可口的饮食之间选择断奶的斯普拉格-道利大鼠幼崽（褐家鼠）（实验1）。然而，断奶幼崽选择在成年大鼠附近进食的次数比在幼年大鼠附近更多，从而证实了适应性进食策略的预测（实验2）。通过将幼崽刺激强度增加到3只幼崽，断奶幼崽在成年大鼠附近进食的偏好被消除了（实验3）。因此，断奶幼崽并不具有一种特殊能力，使它们在作为饮食选择模型时对成年大鼠比对幼崽更敏感。通过对刺激强度做出反应，断奶幼崽更有可能与成年同种个体一起进食，选择它们食用的食物，并获得与成年个体成功进食习惯相关的益处。
